UPSC Daily Current Affairs | Prelim Bits 01-04-2020
iasparliament
April 01, 2020
Tablighi Jamaat
Tablighi Jamaat, which literally means a society for spreading the faith, is a Sunni Islamic missionary movement.
The proselytizing movement aims to reach out to ordinary Muslims and revive their faith, particularly in matters of ritual, dress, and personal behavior
Its roots lie in the Deobandi version of the Hanafi school of jurisprudence.
It was launched by Deoband cleric and prominet Islamic scholar Maulana Muhammad Ilyas Khandhalaw in 1927 in Mewat.
Its emergence also coincided with Hindu proselytizing movements.
Organizational Structure
There is no defined structure for Tablighi Jamaat, but there exists a hierarchic network of elders and mosques.
Originally, it used to be headed by the Ameer, who would preside over the shura (council), the core of the organisation, and deal with important matters including international congregations known as Aalmi Ijtama.
Spread of the movement
After Partition in 1947, a Pakistan chapter was started in the town of Raiwind, Lahore, Currently, Bangladesh has one of the largest chapters.
The Tablighi Jamaat also has a significant base in the United States and Britian, which has a large Indian subcontinent diaspora.
It also has a presence in Indonesia, Malaysia, and Singapore.
The Tablighi Jamaat is based on six principles.
Kalimah, an article of faith in which the Tabligh accepts that there is no God but Allah and that Prophet Muhammad is his messenger.
Salaat, or prayer five times daily.
Ilm - The knowledge and remembrance of Allah conducted in sessions in which the congregation listens to preaching by the imam, performs prayers, recites the Quran and reads the Hadith.
Dhikr - the congregation uses these sessions to dine together, thus fostering a sense of community and identity.
Ikram-i-Muslim, the treatment of fellow Muslims with honour.
Ikhlas-i-niyat, or sincerity of intention. And the sixth is dawat-o-tabligh, or proselytisaton.
Maulana Ilayaz
Muḥammad Ilyas (1884 - 1944) was an Indian Islamic scholar who founded the Tablighi Jamaat Islamic revivalist movement, in 1925, in Mewat province.
Maulana Ilyaz taught at the Mazaharul Uloom in Saharanpur in the mid-1920s, a few hundred kilometers away were the economically and educationally backward Meo peasants, mostly Muslims who were largely practicing Hindu traditions.
Maulana Ilyaz began bringing Meo Muslims back into the fold of traditional Islam.
He trained several young men from Deoband and Saharanpur and sent them to Mewat, where the Tablighi Jamaat established a network of madrasas and Mosque.
After the death of Maulana Inamul Hasan Kandhlawi, the third Ameer (1965-95), the post of Ameer was abolished, and Aalmi Shura (international advisory council) was appointed.
After the death of Maulana Kandhlawi’s son Zubair ul Hasan Kandhlawi in 2015, the movement has been marked by factionalism (camps in India, Pakistan and Bangladesh).
Community Forest resources Guidelines
Community forestry is an evolving branch of forestry whereby the local community plays a significant role in forest management and land use decision making by themselves in the facilitating support of government as well as change agents.
It involves the participation and collaboration of various stakeholders including community, government and non-governmental organisations (NGOs).
The level of involvement of each of these groups is dependent on the specific community forest project, the management system in use and the region.
It gained prominence in the mid-1970s and examples of community forestry can now be seen in many countries including Nepal, Indonesia, Korea, Brazil, India and North America.
A study was commissioned by the Ministry of Tribal Affairs (MoTA) in 2019 to create state level guidance for sustainable resource usage in Community Forest Resource (CFR) submitted its report.
The report of the study highlighted Community forest resource (CFR) rights are given under the Scheduled Tribes and Other Traditional Forest Dwellers (Recognition of Forest Rights) Act, 2006 (FRA), the Energy and Resource Institute (TERI).
According to the report
MoTA must issue broad guidelines and principles for implementation of CFRs, mentioning specific role of the state forest department, state tribal/social welfare department, revenue department and gram sabhas
State governments should prepare state-specific guidelines on the basis of MoTA’s guidelines
MoTa should focus on capacity-building of gram sabha members, assessment of the biomass stock and biodiversity conservation
Focus on capacity building programmes to educate various stakeholder government departments about the acts/schemes/policies
The micro-plans prepared by gram sabha for their respective CFR should be a part of the working plans of forest division concerned, so that forest staff could facilitate the implementation of sustainable forest management.
Forest Rights Act
The 73rd Amendment to the Constitution of India empowered the third tier of democratic government (gram panchayats/ gram sabhas) for local self-governance.
FRA and the Provisions of Panchayats (Extension to Scheduled Areas) Act, 1996 further empowered gram sabhas.
Now the gram sabhas are supreme instead of the forest department.
But this doesn't mean that the provisions of the national forest policy or the various court orders regarding resource usage from forest will not apply to them.
It means that now they’ll have to manage these areas themselves.
Under FRA, a village can get its traditionally held forest land, legally recognized as CFR.
The FRA gives gram sabhas “right to protect, regenerate or conserve or manage any community forest resource which they have been traditionally protecting and conserving for sustainable use.”
The Energy and Resources Institute (TERI)
TERI is a research institute in New Delhi that specializes in the fields of energy, environment and sustainable development.
Established in 1974, it was formerly known as the Tata Energy Research Institute.
As the scope of its activities widened, it was renamed The Energy and Resources Institute in 2003.
Fully Accessible Route
RBI has introduced a separate channel namely Fully Accessible Route (FAR), to enable non - resident to invest in specified government bonds with effect from April 1
The move follows the union budget announcement that certain specifies categories of government bonds would be opened fully for nonresident investors without any restrictions
Eligible investors can invest in specifies categories of government securities without being subject to any investment ceilings this scheme shall operate along with the two existing routes
Medium Term Framework (MTF) - The scheme was aimed at drawing in foreign investors who are willing to commit to keeping money in India for a minimum period of time.
In return, they will get more operational freedom than regular foreign debt investors.
This will substantially ease access of nonresidents to Indian government securities market and facilitate inclusion in global bond indices this would facilitate inflow of stable foreign investment in government bonds
Voluntary retention route (VRR) - which allows investors easier rules in return for a commitment to remain invested for a longer period.
This was first suggested in October 2018 against the backdrop of a weakening Indian rupee.
The route has seen considerable success, particularly in the corporate debt segment.
Data of Clearing Corporation of India Ltd. showed that Rs 41,583 crore have come in via this route.
Of this, Rs 2,890 crore has come into government bonds.
Export Promotion Council for Handicrafts
The Export Promotion Council for Handicrafts (EPCH) was established under Companies Act in the year 1986-87.
It is a non-profit organization, with an object to promote, support, protect, maintain and increase the export of handicrafts.
It is an apex body of handicrafts exporters for promotion of exports of Handicrafts from the country and projecting India's image abroad as a reliable supplier of high quality of handicrafts.
The Council has created necessary infrastructure as well as marketing and information facilities, which are availed both by the members exporters and importers.
Indian Handicrafts & Gifts Fair (IHGF) is Asia's largest gifts & handicrafts trade fair conducted by EPCH, 49th edition of the fair has been called off due to COVID-19.
Source: PIB, Indian Express, the Hindu, Down to Earth
